


Five Moments of Friendship

by Five Moments of Zanii (Zaniida)



Series: Five Moments of Intimacy (Alt Fandoms) [4]
Category: Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale
Genre: (she's got work to do), Box forts, FMI, Female Friendship, Five Moments of Intimacy, Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Pagefic Chapters, Recette is such a dear, Relaxation, Tea Ceremony, Tear stays mostly offstage, mostly fluffy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:42:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25698268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zaniida/pseuds/Five%20Moments%20of%20Zanii
Summary: Am I seriously the first to use these characters infriendshipson AO3?  There are literally only five Ship tags coming up, none of them are & tags, and three of them pair with OMC.  (Wait, there's only like 15 fics in this fandom, and half of them areHarry Potterfusion pieces.  Guess this fandom could use some expansion!)Have an actual friendship fic!  After Recette clears the shop's massive debt, she gets a bit of a chance to relax and hang out with the adventurers on a more personal level.  And Tear can't even complain all that much anymore!
Relationships: Recette Lemongrass & Charme (Recettear), Recette Lemongrass & Elan (Recettear), Recette Lemongrass & Louie (Recettear), Recette Lemongrass & Nagi (Recettear), Recette Lemongrass & Tielle (Recettear)
Series: Five Moments of Intimacy (Alt Fandoms) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1626043
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3
Collections: August Intimacy 2020





	1. Tielle (Physical Intimacy)

**Author's Note:**

> The existing tags that crop up: Original Male Character slashed with Nagi, Tear, or Recette, plus Prime/Tear and Charme/Tear.
> 
> Possibly someone has a fairy fetish.
> 
> Anyway, mine isn't the least bit sexual, and it's gonna be pretty fluffy, but it does bring up drinking, hence the **Teen and Up Audiences**.
> 
> Not sure how often this'll get updated, but it's not the only FMI I'm thinking to write for _Recettear_. Anyway, here's the start:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tielle helps Recette pack away some boxes. Then they figure out something fun to make with them ^_^

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always wanted to do this with the Girl Scout cookie boxes. Don't recall if I was ever allowed to.

With the debt paid off, Tear persuades Recette to use what’s left of the shop’s funds to pull in new exotic merchandise from distant lands, likely to bring in a much higher profit margin now that some of the townsfolk are capable of purchasing more expensive luxuries.

When the shipments start to arrive, she wishes Recette good luck and heads off to handle more of the accounting books that Recette had left so woefully unmanaged (a process that will surely take the better part of a week).

As Recette struggles to move the heavy boxes into the storage closet, Tielle happens by. Once she figures out why the door’s open while the store’s closed, she offers to help (so long as they can get a treat afterwards, which Recette eagerly agrees to).

Elves, it turns out, aren’t nearly as fragile as they look, and the boxes get ported in and shoved onto high shelves with ease, turning the work of several hours into less than twenty minutes.

Then, staring at the nearly full storage closet, one or the other suggests a fort.

By the time Tear drops by to check on their progress, they’ve constructed a giant castle, mostly stable, with windows and turrets and a moat made of every hair decoration Recette could find in her room. The interior is filled with fuzzy blankets, and the girls are braiding each other’s hair while chatting enthusiastically over the news that some famous pastry chef has decided to set up a new shop in town.

Tear notices the sweets that Recette has pulled out of her secret stash (that Tear technically knew about, but pretended she didn’t), sighs mightily, and disappears again.

“I think you scared her off,” Tielle says, fighting back a grin.

“Hey, we finished the job!” Recette counters, her grin just as mischievous. “All the boxes are in the storage closet. She didn’t specify that they couldn’t be in the shape of a castle.”

The two collapse on each other in a fit of giggles.

“I always wanted to make a box fort,” Recette says with a sigh, her head on Tielle’s lap. “I just never had enough boxes.”

Tielle sighs too. “This is so cozy. And this time I’m not even shooting at you!”

“Huh? Oh right! The first time we met.” Her eyes grow wide. “I thought we’d really hurt you! You didn’t have anyone to protect you with their intangimability field. I was so scared!”

“And I was scared because I’d never met a human before! But you aren’t scary at all, Recette.” She smoothes Recette’s hair and smiles. “I’m glad we don’t have to be scared anymore.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I debated over _smoothes_ vs. _smooths_ , but despite some sites calling _smoothes_ [an error](https://writingexplained.org/smooth-or-smoothe), it's apparently [in wide use](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/103422/smooths-versus-smoothes), at least recently (since the 90's). And "smooths" just looks wrong to me -- for verbs, the -the ending indicates the voiced fricative (breathe, bathe, clothe), while the lack of an E indicates the voiceless (breath, bath, cloth). Ergo, this is not a typo, but a deliberate choice, and does not count for my Typo Spotter Reward Drabbles.
> 
> Anyway!
> 
> This fic is an example of the [Five Moments of (Nonsexual) Intimacy](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/1439153) fic form, which I've demonstrated in a variety of fics across the [Person of Interest](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1031027) and [Marvel Cinematic Universe](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1626034) fandoms. I'm branching out to show that this fic form is [fandom-independent](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1626043), and I'm also hosting an [event](https://allbingo.dreamwidth.org/162885.html) throughout August, encouraging people to write their own variations.
> 
> This first chapter covers **Physical Intimacy** (hair braiding, head on lap), but a little bit of **Emotional Intimacy** snuck its way in near the end, and the whole fort-building part could be considered **Experiential Intimacy**. So I guess this fic'll be a little more mixed than my previous work; we'll see how it turns out.
> 
> * * *
> 
> In addition, my [July Prompt](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25014925) is a nudge to step outside your comfort zone and try something in a creative medium you're not familiar with or not yet skilled in. Over the past three years or so, this prompt has inspired bead art, food art, Sims 3 characters, knitted art, video skits, scene readings, podfics, filk songs, photo manipulations, comics, even a giant rag doll! It's also prompted my first piece of fan art on AO3, along with another person's first fanfic. And the current focus on staying indoors means it's even more important to find ways to use your creative energy. I'd love to see what you come up with!


	2. Nagi (Experiential Intimacy)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagi invites Recette to a tea ceremony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a tea ceremony. I participated in a few during college, and even signed up for the tea ceremony class several times (it always got canceled due to lack of interest). The depiction here is based largely on the room as I remember it.
> 
> I've just looked up a few articles on the steps of the ceremony, and they said that the little treat comes before the tea, but we always got ours at the end. I think? Maybe that's a thing for Americans who don't care to have their last taste be a bitter one. (Also, wouldn't eating a sweet _before_ the tea make the tea that much more bitter by contrast?)
> 
> (Also, the idea of sharing the same tea bowl among multiple guests (strangers) was kinda horrifying to me _before_ the world went and made it even worse. I'm glad that the American style uses individual bowls, especially during a ritual where you're not supposed to make a fuss.)

Nagi shows up in Recette’s pantry one day, and strikes up a conversation as if it’s normal to walk out of a pantry without having entered the pantry in the first place. When Recette offers her a drink, the ensuing discussion leads to Nagi inviting Recette over for a tea ceremony.

The mention of “treats” at the end is more than enough to reel her in, and a few days later Recette follows Nagi’s surprisingly accurate hand-drawn map to a hill outside town, where there’s an elegant house surrounded by flowering hedges.

To Recette’s relief, Nagi’s sitting on the front steps (given their previous encounters, Recette hadn’t been sure that her host would even make it home). She beckons Recette to sit beside her, and they breathe in the warm spring air and the scent of lilacs and cedar. Birds sing, water babbles, and there’s a soft, repetitive “donk” sound from somewhere beside the house.

“You live here?” Recette asks after a moment. “It’s so pretty—and peaceful!”

Nagi bows slightly in acknowledgement. “Everything here has been chosen to create a sense of tranquility, to allow the worries of the outside world to simply… wash away.” She smiles. “The tea ceremony is another way to slow down and relax. I will teach you the steps; remember that by appreciating each detail, you appreciate the care your host took in selecting them.”

The first step is washing their hands in cold water, using a wooden ladle; then Nagi leads her to a little house with walls made out of thin slats and paper. Once Recette has taken off her shoes and stored them where Nagi indicated, she kneels before the sliding door, takes a breath, and pushes it open. On the far side of the small room, Nagi’s laying out the tea set, on the floor.

“Once you learn the steps,” Nagi murmurs as Recette closes the door, “you know just how to act. There is no awkwardness, nothing unexpected, just a quiet bond between the participants.”

As Nagi prepares the tea, and the breeze rustles branches outside, Recette studies each detail of the room, trying to focus on the artistry: the modest flower arrangement on a small shelf; the mild citrusy scent in the air; the carefully woven reeds that make up the floor mats; the carved wood above the entrance that mimics the nearby mountain range.

The rough clay bowl that Nagi hands her is a simple two-color design; while trying to examine it, she tips it a little too far, sloshing green froth over her hand, dripping down onto the floor. She freezes, her shoulders drawing up in embarrassment, but Nagi merely smiles. “That is why you examine the bowl _after_ drinking the tea,” she explains without admonishment.

The thick, foamy liquid is slightly bitter, but the colorful little treat at the end leaves her feeling happy for the experience. Maybe if she tries a few more times, she’ll get used to all the pieces, and not have to worry so much about making a mistake.

“I’d be glad to have you again,” Nagi says graciously, and Recette beams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Announcement**
> 
> I have a **website** now! Like so much else that I do, it's a work in progress, and it doesn't yet include a page for my alt-fandom works, but I've put together a page each for my main two fandoms: [Person of Interest](https://arkylie.neocities.org/fics/POI_by_POV.html) and the [Marvel Cinematic Universe](https://arkylie.neocities.org/fics/MCU_by_POV.html). I hope to put together a page highlighting the fics in other fandoms soon enough, but I'm busy with a lot of things lately.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Incidentally, if you'd like to participate in a group event for **April Fools' Day** , get in touch! The theme this year is **Body Swap / Involuntary Transformation** , and I'm trying to get more people interested in participating. Got a little over a month and a half to put fics together to post on April 1st!


End file.
